Larry King Late Night Wars Cold Opening - Saturday Night Live

[@mockbeggar9641]

Jason's Letterman is the stuff of nightmares!!

[@TryMyMartini]

It’s like if Letterman were a Batman villain from the 50’s.

[@sarathck5076]

Exactly what I was thinking 😂

[@canaisyoung3601]

Every white guy who has played David Letterman on this show is spot-on: Joe Piscopo, Norm MacDonald, Jason Sudeikis, even forgotten SNL and MADtv cast member, Jeff Richards.

[@miguelpatrick79]

@@user-hk7xm5pu1c relax relax I'm pretty sure she didn't mean nothing by it grow some skin

[@NotDingse]

He looks kinda like Elton

[@benjrivera21]

Conan wasn't made to look funny. He was made to look angry and sullen which isn't a Conan thing at all. And yet still he was so much more likeable than Leno

[@marksoquetjr4693]

Yep

[@seattleite6631]

He was pretty bitter at the time.

[@josephabreu6042]

@@seattleite6631 yeah, but walking away with millions in your bank account should ease some of that bitterness especially since some of us would give almost anything to have a roof over our head and maybe a hot meal now and then. and, in a way, it doesn’t matter how hard you worked or how talented you are. that is a result of being blessed by a higher power and some good luck along the way.

[@HueyRocks23]

@@josephabreu6042 Conan took that payout he got from NBC to walk away and paid his staff with it until he got the TBS show. Also this is a supposed portrayal of Conan's attitude at the time. We don't really know what he went through during this period. We may never know either because he doesn't like talking about it. The closest we have is the doc film "Can't Stop" he made of his tour that happened a few months after.

[@msminmichigan]

He was very depressed after he left the Tonight Show.

[@Sener]

I love it how Armisen's Larry King just keeps roasting himself.

[@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734]

yeah the way he stares at the camera after saying the punch line XD

[@samichgrrl]

Hammond nailed it. The voice, the slight lisp. A true master.

[@johnulcer]

I'm amazed that Hammond isn't getting more praise for his Leno impression. Part of me thinks it's just because people hate Leto so much and the impression is so spot-on. He's got the vocal inflections and mannerisms down to a science...Hammond was always under-appreciated.

[@stevenloube6784]

That was maybe the only funny part of the skit, but the skit is so God fucking awful that I was sad re-watching it.

[@BM-ff6oq]

@@stevenloube6784 could’ve been much funnier

[@Adamdidit]

@@BM-ff6oq i think the performers were too personally invested to make it funnier they were mad

[@gallery7596]

Yes, terrific Jay impression by Darryl. Jason's Letterman was credible, but after a while the giggling and pencil throwing got annoying.

[@sododgy8338]

I think it's more that Hammond's impressions were always so *absurdly* good, that it's just taken for granted. "Oh Darryl Hammond did an amazing impression? Is water still wet? Yeah, thought so."

[@username_undefined]

Conan will live on as the funniest and most genuine late night host of all time!

[@joelabed9358]

No, that would be Craig Ferguson

[@ohmygoshitscole]

Doesn’t just have to be one

[@bmla88]

Or carson

[@mwebb999]

Said nobody ever

[@worthless_opinion]

​@@joelabed9358 Ferguson was good, but he was a little too sleezy/weird at times. And a little too self-centered. Conan has a way of elevating the guest and directing humor at himself that makes him the best.

[@mackagan321]

Bill´s Conan looks so perfect

[@stevenloube6784]

Not really. It’s just the hair. But there is no impression here at all.

[@johnulcer]

@@stevenloube6784 I love Bill but I agree. Not much of an impression.

[@toikutoassumi8381]

@@stevenloube6784 he didn't say anything about impression,he just said he looked good as Conan .

[@stevenloube6784]

@@toikutoassumi8381 I didn’t say he did. I said he doesn’t look incredible, just the hair. Then added more to my post.

[@toikutoassumi8381]

@@stevenloube6784 sorry buddy my bad I didn't read it right.

[@sethlarson9433]

Holy smokes Hammond NAILED that Leno impression! So subtle but so overt, a true master.

[@sbalcooldlamini6867]

"...are these glasses gettin bigger or is my face shrinking....you decide" 😂😂😂 killed me

[@christosioannou9628]

I don’t know why, but the Letterman throwing pencils but it was hilarious to me

[@Annibals]

*"You went to Harvard do you think you can build yourself a time machine"*

[@fezzik7619]

That’s the line we all heard him say in the video. Thanks for writing it down.

[@ODUBlue]

Sudekis giggling, muttering gibberish and throwing pencils is EVERYTHING 😂 Such a funny take on Dave

[@paulthompkins4150]

Darrell Hammond is truly one of the most UNDERAPPRECIATED cast member ever on SNL.

[@bboooobbyy]

Really?? because his Leno here is fucking atrocious and Leno is not a hard guy to impersonate

[@wilmafistfit4788]

@@bboooobbyy delusion

[@sonyawalker9212]

WHAT?????? SO APPRECIATED!!!!!!

[@pakde8002]

Who?

[@holycrab6316]

@@bboooobbyyMuppet. Watch his Bill Clinton, Sean Connery and Donald Trump's impression just to mention a few.

[@coosoorlog]

David Letterman, the horror movie, directed by David Lynch.

[@simretsekhon586]

The fact that Bill Hader and Conan are friends now

[@hairypenis5370]

Simret Sekhon ur dumb....they had meet several times on the other show... U think Hader could only have done this impression if Conan wasn’t his friend?

[@matthale8090]

I was gunna say.... Pretty sure they were friends before... I'm not gunna be so mean about it, like other people 😆

[@jmsmith1767]

They kiss SO HARD

[@guptageneralstores5243]

Conan is like his idol mate. They know each other from a really long time

[@twinkieman237]

They’ve been friends for a while lol

[@p.art4705]

Letterman looks like he came straight out of an R.L Stine book.

[@VnayKarr]

It's amazing that hader playing conan was so quiet all the while

[@vardellsfolly5200]

One of David's flying pencils got me.

[@AWWEFAN99]

"yoa ya heeheeheeheeheehee ya hwaa ya ya ya" -David Letterman, SNL

[@AidenJustPlayin]

Oh cool a wwe fan!(im not being rude im a wrestling fan also)

[@AWWEFAN99]

@@AidenJustPlayin hi bro

[@AidenJustPlayin]

@@AWWEFAN99 You play wrestling revolution also,nice

[@AWWEFAN99]

@@AidenJustPlayin yes but nowdays barely got time because school

[@wynweeardo0593]

Bill Hader's impression of Conan was perfect!! but Sudeikis tho--

[@JDillander91]

Was terrible we know

[@JDillander91]

@Jim McCracken dude it was fucking terrible. All he did was do his laugh.

[@marksoquetjr4693]

The Letterman impression was hilarious

[@radhiadeedou8286]

I know criticizing hader is a sin but his Conan isn't really good, makes me believe that Conan is unimpressionable cause if bill can't do it no one can

[@oui2611]

how was it perfect do you even watch conan

[@MHLegacy]

I love how they added shoulder pads to Fred Armisen's costume to give that weird shoulder dip that Larry King had.

[@wta1981]

I can’t believe I’m just seeing this skit for the first time. They crushed this one. All 4 performances are so good

[@JeffReams]

Jason Sudeikis turned his Letterman impression up to an 11. Pure nightmare f u e l.

[@sstaners1234]

In hindsight: Conan > Leno

[@ethanh6370]

Yeah I feel like everyone could see that in foresight, too. We'll, everyone except NBC execs...

[@mr.monkeypaws4019]

Duh

[@mikequinlivan8842]

No, not even in hindsight. In real time. Actually, before it even happened.

[@uosdwiSrdewoH]

That was always the case. Leno is a hack. Apparently he was somewhat respected as a stand up but lost the edge when he got into late night at which point he forced out Johnny Carson, screwed Letterman, stole the show back from Conan and finally passed the show to Fallon.

[@Khronogi]

Enough! Both Conan and Leno are funny, whoever is 'funnier' is a matter of preference. It's been a decade, let the feud go already. This hate for Leno is a tireless bandwagon trope. It's the same as everyone hating on SNL and saying it isn't as funny as whatever time period they found nostalgic.

[@antoniodragonheart8965]

The Letterman parody is hilarious.

[@declanmar7]

I’m a big Letterman fan and it was SO on point.

[@msoileau83]

Agree.

[@anandprahlad5434]

2:55 OMG this is hilarious! Those are "forward" slashes. 😂🤣

[@danieldougan269]

Darrell's Jay Leno impression is on point.

[@GreyHulk2156]

The exaggerated lunacy of David Letterman is spot on. :)

[@DBREW]

This is one of those weird sketches where the crowd wasn't into it at the time, but is a hoot even today. All comedic heavyweights at the top of their game.

[@babababad]

I'm not surprised the audience was tepid. None of the impressions quite land, and there's no overall comedic concept to the sketch to give it momentum.

[@Pariahmachina]

Best Letterman impression ever!

[@Sweet.Mother.of.Cheesus]

I love Sudeikis, but his impression here reminded me more of the Joker than Letterman ^^

[@ThePoushal]

See Norm Macdonald's Letterman impression.

[@MrGSfan]

Pariah machina He can mimic the laughter of Dave

[@dasbistel29]

Norm's so much better

[@andrewcramer9200]

Chiming in 6 years later to tell some commenters that Sudeikis SEEMED to be overdoing it for comedic effect. Just laughing, grunting and throwing pencils at the camera, reducing Letterman to something below a caricature. It was a pretty good impression of Letterman's fake laugh as I remember it.

[@Lori-lp6uc]

They all did great. Jason's Letterman is my favorite!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@vlada1582]

holy shit Bill is so good at impersonating Conan

[@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734]

@Samu Tyrväinen yeah im confused. im a big fan of bill and now i've watched a lot of conan's vids too, starting to become a fan and im so confused, was conan really that silent and sad when he was on nbc or wut ? why is that a good impression? because he's not like that according to his videos on tbs. like i said i love bill but this kinda disappoint me

[@Nueztoy]

@@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734 Conan was a writer at SNL and respected by most of these cast. I think the sketch is suppose to be Conan as the only sane person.

[@jk6491]

@@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734 Conan will sometimes make a fake sad face (to make the crowd go "awww") that looks a bit like the face Bill is making throughout the sketch.

[@cesarmadero05]

@@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734 Watch the 60 minutes interview of Conan post firing and Bill nails his serious voice. He is not making the TV persona, sometimes it feels he is gloomy, and of course he is sad he is losing the job.

[@CHilla415]

@@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734 It's a very restrained impression, not the typical when the performer will exaggerate or take the personification cranked up to 11; but it's actually pretty spot on if you ever watch interviews with Conan. He can be very low-key, and Hader actually does a pretty good job at mimicking that. It may not seem like much if you haven't seen Conan in those situations, but yeah his impression is pretty good.

[@faboze]

DARRELL HAMMOND WAS PERFECT

[@marksoquetjr4693]

They always overdo it with the chin. He didn't need the chin to get him down.

[@noahfreeman9420]

3:18 that David Letterman impression is spot on

[@OhSankYouDoktor]

The Letterman impression was hysterical!!!

[@siamandhaniya2083]

Darrell Hammond's impression is AMAAAAAAAAZINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[@msminmichigan]

Hader doesn't do a very good Conan impression but he captures how serious and depressed Conan was at the time.

[@TheMijman]

He does a really good one in parts. Close you eyes, and he's definitely got his cadence right

[@alabarjhoni9742]

thats one theory

[@lukeanil1336]

If u close ur eyes it's sounds perfectly like Conan

[@ColeyHinson91]

Love the Letterman impression... completely over the top.

[@barbarabrennan1753]

Heeheehee

[@michaelbiscay9836]

As much as I love Fred and Jason, watching this just made me miss Norm's versions of both characters.

[@ggsilik]

Hey, you got any gum?

[@ChunkOcoal]

They both did great but Norms was just on another level

[@luckyDancer100]

Bill and Conan are good friends in real life, so this is hilarious

[@gregwatson8219]

Friendship dont exist in business

[@Ernie1978]

This David Letterman is more Joker than the Joker himself. Yikes!

[@litchick2715]

RIP Mr. King

[@randomtees]

Hammond should've been a permanent SNL cast member. He's so versatile.

[@Rougarou99]

He was from 1995 to 2009. He became the announcer in 2014 after Don Pardo’s passing, so he is always around.

[@stevethomas2285]

@@Rougarou99 I thought his Leno was very good.

[@Rougarou99]

@@stevethomas2285 He is an amazing impressionist. His Sean Connery, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump were amazing.

[@phil-ys3cf]

he is one of the longest serving cast members ever... how did u miss that lol

[@SuperCarCar10]

Jason’s Letterman had me DYING 😂😂😂

[@tangerinedreamsicle]

This Letterman is the scariest Batman villain i've ever seen- It's "Lead Poisoning" with Pencil Tossing Action!

[@cinesitcom]

“Captain suspenders 1906” 🤣

[@docfreakbeast]

0:18 "Conan Is Out" hits different today!

[@brace110]

Those are forward slashes not backslashes

[@BrainDeadz]

Yes, that's the joke

[@mavoc3094]

@@BrainDeadz Is it though, or was the writer just mistaken?

[@backwaterbounty]

@@BrainDeadz no the joke was that he spelled out ... calling those backslashes is a very common mistake, hardly anyone uses: \

[@sammeo]

Dave letterman here is truly remarkable

[@monsieuraout]

I was surprised *NBC* gave *SNL* permission to make fun of what was going down at _Late Night_ specially letting them take jabs at Leno.

[@pradhyudh]

If ratings of snl go down ,they will shoot a porn and telecast it live

[@areyoufriendly]

Right? Totally unbelievable. It probably went like this: * ring ring * Hello, this is NBC. Hey, it’s SNL. We got a pretty good sketch for our cold open this week involving the recent late night show debacle. We’re gonna have to make a couple jokes at your expense and Leno too. May we please do that? Well.....I suppose. But it better get laughs and not hurt our ratings! Of course! What about Leno? We’ll smooth it over with him, don’t you worry SNL. Thanks NBC! We won’t let you down! “Permission” 😅😅

[@matthewlodel3115]

SNL has made fun of NBC before...

[@ZBritt92]

Wait till this guy hears of 30 Rock

[@calebmauer1751]

Calling the forward slashes back slashes is great, so many news people do that.

[@solvseus]

RIP Larry, and Conan's show. F Leno.

[@malecyoung1870]

This is the only time I've ever seen someone other than Larry King play Larry King

[@markdavies9117]

Darrell Hammond's Leno - wow. Stuff I forgot Jay would do. Talent.

[@sandrastokes9847]

Captain suspenders 1906😂😂😂😂

[@twinkieman237]

ALL of these impressions were spot on. Such an underrated SNL class

[@drjayteamk4531]

All these impressionists saw letterman that one week in the 90s and just impersonate that

[@stevenjunor503]

Love the Letterman impression. Spot on!

[@charlespecaut303]

How many pencils did he throw?!? 😂 Did anyone keep a tally? Lol

[@joeiijames]

Darrel Hammond an absolute legend of impressions

[@alabarjhoni9742]

you appreciate him. let me appreciate you so that you can appreciate me. lets make whoppee baby

[@SuperFlyinPwrs]

9 people were injured via pencil during the filming of this sketch.

[@calessel3139]

Hammonds Leno is by far the best I've ever heard.

[@gibustheinfamous]

"Err....ehehehehe!" - David Letterman

[@MrGSfan]

Compare 1:14 to this part of Letterman's retirement announcement "Leslie, it’s been great, you’ve been great, and the network has been great, but I’m retiring,’”

[@cesarmadero05]

"Ayyyee, You got any gum? Hahahahaaaa! Heheheeee!" - David Letterman

[@Sharky165]

But DO you know the story behind "got gum" ?? THAT is the question !

[@benvoliothefirst]

Now we know where Cobra Kai stole the "pronouncing the whole web address" joke from, lol

[@blazaybla22]

You know a skit isn’t really coming together when Jason Sudeikis has the most accurate impression

[@johnulcer]

You kidding me? That Leno impression is spot-on.

[@stevenloube6784]

Yeah the skit is fucking awful

[@Roberto-iq1mv]

10 years ago, just seeing this. That is the worst Leno impersonation I have ever seen. Everyone but this guy knew how to do Leno.

[@parvathynk2393]

3:25 man that's a creepy Lough 😆🤣🤣🤣

[@hugonongbri8100]

Norm's Letterman was the best 😆

[@paxvostrum4824]

how come i see it only now? This is brilliant!!! All impressions are spot on!

[@stevenloube6784]

Maybe because the sketch is so bad that they were trying to hide it?

[@HeyCupertino]

Sheesh. Darrell Hammond's voice work is superb.

[@wizkid915]

Five of the best players ever to feature on SNL right here in this sketch

[@ethanaleman]

lol rest in peace Larry

[@UssyMustyYS]

RIP, Larry King.

[@mwebb999]

I guess the cast member with the best Letterman impression at the time could only laugh and throw a pencil

[@daliavazquez7480]

I miss Larry king he interview a lot of famous people god the nostalgia

[@georgiemp44]

Bill suits red hair.

[@ahirschfeld1974]

Fred Armisen does a pretty good Larry King but I think Norm MacDonald did the best Larry King and David Letterman impressions.

[@mookow2]

Tonight on Larry King... Why do I keep seeing Jason's Letterman in my cold sweat nightmares?

[@wadball]

My god the lettermen part had me rolling

[@nefwaenre]

They should've given Darrell a prosthetic chin as the finishing touch. Bill as Conan is hotter than Coco himself 😱

[@cleverusername9369]

Bill playing his good buddy Conan is hilarious

[@uosdwiSrdewoH]

Yeah, that's fair. I still remember all that. It was terrible for Conan but I think he ultimately had more leeway at TBS to try different things. And it gave us a great TV moment when Jay interviewed Jimmy Kimmel, despite their shows being on different networks, and Jimmy tore him a new one.

[@bjv93]

"Uh, uh, no, uh Jay, no monologue, no monologue" hahahahaha

[@MurdochMMQCR]

Sudeikis did a good job as Letterman

[@j.alawagmanansala4603]

i came her to mourn Larry King's passing.

[@koala201211]

Holy shit, I didn't believe you and had to go check. RIP Larry King.

[@bmck-8400]

Conan never got his chance

[@cakredi4132]

Carson Daly's off camera the entire time :)

[@bjs2022]

He (or she, the sketch writer) got the “back slash" wrong and that mistake was not intentional.

[@yt_phasma]

I could not stop laughing at the Letterman impression

[@swtpeteswtpete1515]

Spot on casting and likenesses/impressions.. But c'mon Larry, those are forward slashes, not back slashes!

[@harrisonmckinney7659]

Just how annoyed Conan is with anything Jay says is so accurate

[@SophieTheBagel1984]

Bill Hader does a very good Conan. And the prop department did a great job on the hair.

[@tomkurtz3848]

All three of them were spot on

[@faykguru]

Almost impossible to beat Hammond at impressions, but Hader *nailed* this - hilar

[@kokopellispritjourney]

Hammond does Leno better than Leno. No prosthetics, just great impression. Brilliant.

[@2timesloveequalslove]

I love how kooky this sketch is! I miss this goofiness

[@GregorioStyreco]

"uhhh YAAA uuuhh YAAA hheheheheheheheheheheh" "Thats great stuff dave!"

[@NamesJoshe]

I love how Letterman is reminiscent of Jack Nicholson’s Joker